


Undercover

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Accents, Arguing, F/M, Fluff, Formalwear, Humor, Making Up, Undercover, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28961448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: The crew has to go undercover to a shipyard owner's compound to get some information from him.
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla, Space Family (Star Wars Rebels)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	Undercover

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fun idea that's been floating around my brain for a while, I hope you like it! This is actually the longest one-shot fic I've ever written, so that's fun!

“Sabine,” Hera said, her voice filled with a dangerously serious tone. “What did you do?”

The navy blue pantsuit set that Sabine had been given had been painted with intricately outlined designs in silver, and Sabine’s face was painted with similar silver lines.

“I took some artistic liberties with the costume you guys gave me,” Sabine said earnestly.

“Artistic-”

Kanan grabbed her arm, and Hera cut herself off.

“It looks nice, Sabine,” Kanan said. “But are you sure it’s appropriate?”

“I do,” Sabine said, a little more curtly. “I figure these nobles would want their assistant to look nicer. Besides, I just copied the patterns from Zeb’s armor. I won’t look out of place.”

Sabine motioned towards Zeb. He was wearing leather armor over a grey jumpsuit. The armor was really more ornamental than anything else, painted the same dark blue color that Sabine’s pantsuit was and had some silver accent lines on it. Hera sighed and nodded reluctantly.

“Okay. It’s fine. Just… clear these things with us first next time,” she said. “We really need this to go smoothly.”

Hera really didn’t want to fight her on it much more- it was already enough of an argument convincing her that she had to dye her hair back to a plain brown color. Thankfully, Sabine nodded, and Hera sat down in the pilots seat, cursing under her breath as she had to kick the ends of her long noble’s dress away so she could fly safely.

The plan was supposed to be simple- Kanan and Hera were posing as a noble couple who were meeting with the owner of a shipyard that the Empire had been working with to gather information, under the guise of looking to buy some of his ships. Zeb would be their bodyguard, Sabine would act as their assistant along with Chopper, and Ezra… well, Ezra was their son, meaning he’d have to pretend to be even younger than he was, so he wasn’t happy about it. They were meeting at the owner’s lavish compound, and they definitely had to dress the part.

Hera wore a long, dark gray cloak over a pale orange dress adorned with gold embellishments, while Kanan wore a matching cloak over a green tunic, also with gold embellishments, and brown pants. Ezra had the simplest costume, wearing a plain blue tunic with black pants, but he was complaining more than anyone because Hera told Sabine to dye his hair green so she’d be a little more believable as his mother. Ezra was far from thrilled.

As she lifted the “borrowed” Imperial shuttle off of the ground, Hera looked back to see Ezra with his face screwed up, scratching at his head.

“Ugh,” he moaned. “This dye is so itchy.”

“That’s what happens when you make me use the wash-out stuff,” Sabine pointed out. “It’s not like I wouldn’t have been able to dye it back.”

“Some of us like to keep our hair just how it is,” Ezra snapped back.

“Alright, kids, easy,” Kanan said. He flashed Hera a smile, which she hesitantly returned before turning her full attention back on the ship’s console and viewport before her.

“At least I get to act my age,” Sabine said quietly, but not quite quietly enough.

Hera sighed and rolled her eyes. It was going to be a _long_ flight.

* * *

Some of the shipyard owner’s assistants, clad in red and bronze-colored uniforms, took the crew’s bags for them after they landed at the compound’s platform. Looking at his crew, Kanan could tell that they were all a little put-off by these people doing everything for them, but to act the part there was nothing else they could do. Chopper- who’d been painted by Sabine a deep blue with silver lines, similar to what Sabine and Zeb wore- rolled out of the ramp, sitting next to Sabine, and Hera leaned down a little bit to speak to him.

“Paint job looks nice, Chop,” Hera said quietly. Chopper grumbled in disagreement, and Kanan couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Quiet,” Zeb whispered. “Look, he’s coming.”

Kanan frowned and looked around, until he saw a tall, tanned man wearing a black Imperial-style cloak approaching them. He nudged Hera and nodded in the direction of the man. The man spread his arms wide.

“Welcome, welcome,” he said with a Core accent and a dazzling smile. “You must be the Lagans.”

“Yes,” Kanan said, switching to a similar Core accent that he was familiar with growing up on Coruscant. “I’m Jalor. This is my wife, Yanna, and our son Poli.”

Their undercover names had been picked by the rebel network generals. None of the crew was happy with them.

“I see,” the shipyard owner said. “Nice to meet you all, I’m Commodore Britin. We’ll be serving dinner in an hour, would you all like to make yourself comfortable in your quarters?”

“That would be nice,” Hera said, surprising Kanan with a thick Rylothian accent he’d never heard from her before. 

“Follow me, then.”

He led them on a stone path. The compound was unlike anything Kanan had ever seen before. Trees were lined along the path, it was filled with lush gardens of beautiful flowers, most of them ones Kanan didn’t even recognize. There was a small pond with an artificial waterfall surrounded by stones, and Kanan could just catch a glimpse of colorful fish swimming around in it. They reached a stone cabin at the end of the path that had pretty pink flowers planted below the windows.

“This is the guest house,” Commodore Britin said. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I’ll send someone to come fetch you for dinner later.”

He showed them into the building, where their bags already sat on a table.

“Thank you,” Hera said, still in that Rylothian accent.

The Commodore smiled at her, the look in his eyes making Kanan uncomfortable. But Kanan didn’t say anything while the Commodore left, the door closing behind him.

“This place is beautiful,” Sabine said. “I could just sit out on one of those rocks and draw all day.”

“Don’t get distracted,” Hera said, speaking in her normal voice. “We have to stay focused on the mission. We’re here for intel on his deal with the Empire, nothing else.”

“And how exactly are we getting this intel?”

“Kanan and I have a meeting tomorrow about our interest in buying some ships- we’ll ask him questions. Our assistant,” Hera said, with a pointed look at Sabine. “Will be taking notes on everything.”

“And what do Zeb and I do?” Ezra asked.

Hera shrugged. “Investigate the compound, see if you can find anything. Chopper can go with you guys, too.”

Chopper warbled in annoyance, and Kanan nudged him with his foot.

“Hey, I’m sure that’ll be more fun than sitting in on a business meeting, Chop.”

Chop only responded with a “hmmph” sound, and Kanan just shook his head.

“No matter what,” Hera said. “We have to make sure no one does anything suspicious. Our whole cover could get blown instantly if anyone slips up. This should be an easy mission. I don’t need any of you getting hurt.”

“Yeah, we get it, you care about us,” Zeb said. “When is he getting us for dinner?”

“Hopefully soon,” Hera said.

While waiting, they all picked out rooms. The cabin had 3 rooms. Two of them had one bed- presumably for the noble family, but Sabine took one of them instead so Ezra and Zeb shared the room with two beds, since they were used to bunking with each other anyway. While moving his bag into the bedroom, Kanan saw Hera sitting down, arms crossed on the bed. He’d been able to feel her tension ever since they left, and he offered her a gentle smile.

“It’s gonna go fine, you know. And if it doesn’t, I don’t think this place is that well armed. I don’t think I’ve seen a single guard.”

Hera nodded.

“I know. I just… well, I think I’d much rather be shooting at stormtroopers than worrying about all this. That’s a lot less stressful.”

Kanan chuckled as he sat down next to her. “Is it?”

She chuckled too. “I don’t know. Maybe not, but at least I’m much better at it.”

“Hey, I thought you were doing pretty good talking to him. I, uh,” Kanan’s face warmed up a little bit. “I liked your accent.”

Hera lifted an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he admitted, growing oddly nervous. “Just never heard you talk like that before, that’s all.”

Hera smiled, and took his hand, squeezing it firmly. “Well, I like yours too. I’ve hardly heard your Core accent before.”

Kanan nodded. “Well, hopefully we can keep it up through dinner, right?”

“And that meeting tomorrow,” she pointed out.

“Yeah. That too.”

* * *

A loud knock at the cabin door startled them all, but it was Sabine who opened the door. She smiled at Commodore Britin despite not actually being all that happy to see him. Nonetheless, he smiled at her.

“Good evening. Dinner is ready, if you’d all like to follow me to my home.”

They all got up and started to walk out, following the Commodore through more of the paths in the compound, though a different way this time, to a large red building that Sabine assumed was the Commodore’s luxurious home. The sun was low on the horizon, bathing them all in a golden light and casting long shadows from the trees and stones. As much as Hera had scolded her for saying it, the compound really was beautiful. It was just a shame that it was controlled by such horrible, greedy people, and that its beauty wasn’t being shared with anyone beyond the rich associates of the Commodore- or in the Ghost Crew’s case, those he thought were rich.

The door opened automatically for them as they came in, and Sabine was a little put off by how… decadent everything she was. Sure, she grew up in the Clan Wren stronghold, which was not exactly a pauper’s hut, but her family always valued more minimalist decor, and honoring Mandalorian culture. Commodore Britin’s home was filled with ornate decorations made of rare jewels and metals, but they seemed to be there more for the sake of just showing off his wealth than to actually decorate the space. There was no consistent pattern, or even real artistic design in any of them. They were just… there.

Sabine was not a fan.

“Take your seats, please,” Commodore Britin said, guiding them with a smile. He pulled out a chair that he offered to Hera, causing Kanan to make a sour face that Sabine found slightly amusing. Kanan and Ezra took seats after the Commodore did, but Sabine stopped with Zeb when they realized there was only one seat. The Commodore waved her on.

“Come on, sit down. Uh, bodyguard, you can watch the door, to fulfil your duties.”

Sabine looked guiltily at Zeb- he’d been the one complaining about being hungry more than anyone. But he just nodded and walked quietly to the door.

“Sit down, Talia,” Hera said gently in her Rylothian accent. It took Sabine a moment to respond to her undercover name.

“Yes, Mistress,” Sabine said reluctantly, taking the last seat. When she looked at Hera, she could see Hera looked pretty guilty too- as did Kanan and Ezra. The Commodore, though, took an interest in Ezra.

“So, my boy. What did you say your name was?”

“Um…” Ezra said quietly. Sabine’s eyes widened- if Ezra forgot his name already and their cover was blown, he’d definitely be scrubbing the refresher for the next month at least.

“Poli,” Kanan said quickly in the Core accent Sabine still found so odd to hear from him. “He’s rather shy.”

“Oh, that’s alright. Many are, his age,” the Commodore said, turning his attention to Hera. “I suppose you had him pretty young, from the looks of it.”

Hera did not look amused, and Sabine could see Kanan clench his jaw.

“Yes,” Hera said. “Now, Commodore, about your ships-”

“Oh no, oh no,” the Commodore interrupted her, waving his hand. “We don’t talk business at the dinner table, dear. Save that for our meeting tomorrow, alright?”

A line of droids hovered in from a door at the end of the room, each carrying a plate. They promptly place a plate in front of each person sitting at the table. Sabine looked down at her plate- a slice of nerf meat covered in a red sauce, with some green and orange vegetables sitting on the side. The sauce was spicy mubasa sauce, one of Zeb’s favorite. Sabine looked back at Zeb, who stood at the entryway. She saw his ears perk up as he smelled the mubasa sauce, and she felt guilty and turned back around- just barely catching his ears flattening against his head one again.

Sabine was quiet through the meal- she was just the assistant, after all, and the Commodore was much more interested in talking to Kanan and Hera than anyone else. Which was fine by her, she wasn’t exactly motivated to talk to him. She ate her vegetables slowly at the table, listening to the conversation- which was largely dominated by the Commodore. She didn’t have her datapad to take notes- they figured it would be too suspicious at dinner- but so far the Commodore wasn’t saying anything interesting.

Until he was a few glasses of wine in.

“And the Empire trusts me!” Commodore Britin exclaimed proudly. “They trust me so much, that they gave me tons and _tons_ of credits to do some testing on new ways to fuse durasteel!”

Hera and Sabine met each other’s eyes, Hera looking a little bemused. Sabine raised her eyebrow and looked at the Commodore, trying her best to commit everything he was saying to memory so she could note it down later.

“That’s impressive,” Kanan said, coaxing him. “You’re doing testing, you say?”

“Yes. My ships- my ships will be the best in the galaxy, just you wait. The Imps just helped me build this lab.”

The Commodore leaned in across the table, closer to Kanan.

“Wanna know where it is?”  
Kanan nodded.

The Commodore grinned and stomped his foot on the floor.

“Right below us! We got it right underground! My engineers are working down there as we speak! There’s an entrance in the garden, they just go right down!”

Sabine and Hera exchanged brief smiles.

“Interesting,” Kanan said. “Well… that certainly gives me some confidence for our meeting tomorrow, what do you say? I think we should all head in for the night- little Poli probably needs some sleep after that long flight.”

“Of course, of course,” the Commodore said, waving his hand. The hovering droids came back out from the kitchen to collect their plates and glasses, but Sabine stopped one from taking hers. She hadn’t touched the nerf meat at all, but all of her vegetables were gone.

“Uh, do you mind if I take this with me?”

The droid nodded, its mechanical servos buzzing quietly as it did, and a plastifoam container popped out of a tray from it’s rounded body. Sabine thanked the droid and slid the nerf from her plate into the container, and then closed it up. She looked back at Zeb with a small nod, and he smiled thankfully at her.

“I’ll see you two,” the Commodore said, pointing to Kanan and Hera. “Tomorrow in our meeting. Get a good rest, all of you.”

“Thank you, Commodore,” Hera said sweetly, not even hesitating to head straight for the door, and Sabine was happy to follow.

* * *

“We have to find that lab entrance,” Kanan said as he flopped down on the bed they were sharing. Hera finished folding her clothes, and turned around, nodding. 

“I know. Ezra and Zeb said they’d look for it while we’re in the meeting tomorrow. If they get caught, Ezra can just say he was… I don’t know, playing or something.”

“Or,” Kanan said. “I can go look for it tomorrow morning. Britin was still drinking when we left, he’ll probably too hungover to be up early.”

Hera shook her head.

“No, that would be way too suspicious,” she said. “Ezra and Zeb can handle it.”

Kanan pouted a little, and Hera smiled and climbed into the bed with him, reaching a hand over to brush loose hairs behind his ear. Kanan smiled at her, but still had concern in his eyes.

“I just… if the Empire helped build that lab, I’m worried about what kind of defenses it could have. I don’t want them getting hurt.”

“I know, love,” Hera said. “But we both know Zeb can hold his own, and you’ve taught Ezra well. They’ll be fine.”

Kanan nodded, and Hera pulled herself closer to him, kissing his cheek and then resting her head on his chest.

“Let’s get some sleep, love,” she said. “So we can be ready for that meeting tomorrow.”

“Mmhmm,” Kanan said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around her, gently tracing down her back with his fingers while Hera drifted off to sleep.

The sun was just over the horizon when it peeked into the window, sending warm rays into the room. Hera stretched and yawned as she woke up, turning over in the bed. Once the initial morning drowsiness wore off, she realized she was alone. She blinked and rubbed at her eyes as she sat up, looking around the room. She got out of bed and checked the bathroom- but Kanan wasn’t in there. She went to the cottage’s common room, expecting to see him waiting on the couch, but he wasn’t there either. Hera’s gaze shifted towards the door, and she scowled when she realized where Kanan must be.

Lined up by the door was her shoes, Sabine’s shoes, and Ezra’s shoes- but not Kanan’s.

“Karabast,” Hera whispered under her breath. She went to Ezra and Zeb’s bedroom and knocked. She expected Zeb to come to the door, but Ezra did instead. He yawned, still in his sleepclothes.

“What’s up Hera?” Ezra asked. “Zeb is still asleep, if you need him.”

“No, it’s fine,” Hera said. “Get dressed, we’re going to go look for Kanan.”

Ezra frowned. “Look for Kanan?”

“He went out to look for the lab entry. We’ve gotta make sure that he’s okay.”

Ezra nodded.

“Just give me a sec.”

* * *

Ezra, now dressed in his formal mission disguise, followed Hera down the path. She didn’t seem happy with Kanan, who was no doubt going to be in trouble when they did find him. The gardens of the compound looked pretty in the early sunlight, morning dew drops dripping from all the leaves and grass, and small, gentle pools of fog hovering over the ponds.

But Ezra wasn’t going to point that out to Hera as she stormed down the stone pathway, looking around for Kanan. Ezra looked around too, seeing Kanan in some bushes down a right turn. He cautiously nudged Hera and pointed to him.

“There,” he said quietly. Hera gave him a thankful nod.

Kanan was hunched over in the bushes, patting the ground with his hands. Hera picked up her pace as she started to storm over to him, and Ezra nervously followed. It was clear that Kanan didn’t see them- nor did he see the Commodore coming down the path the other way, watching him in bewilderment.

“Hera,” Ezra said quietly through gritted teeth.

“I know.”

Ezra watched Hera, and he could practically see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she thought of a way to not blow her cover.

“Jalor Yagan,” the Commodore said incredulously. “What in blazes are you doing?”

Kanan froze, and stood up slowly. “I, uh-”

Hera rushed towards Kanan, arms open.

“Oh, my darling husband,” she said dramatically in her Rylothian accent as she collided with him, hugging him tight. “Did you find the ring I dropped?”

Ezra’s eyes were wide as he watched them both. Her face turned away from the Commodore and towards him, he could see that Hera looked positively mortified by what she was doing, and Ezra had to resist the urge to crack a smile and start laughing.

Kanan took a moment to realize what Hera’s doing, but once the shock wore off he wrapped his arms around Hera.

“Uh, n- no, dearest,” Kanan said in his Core accent, his voice a little shaky. “No, I did not.”

“That’s alright,” Hera said, pulling away from him. She cupped his cheek in her hand. “We’ll have to send Talia for a replacement when we arrive home.”

Ezra had to keep his mouth shut tight to keep from laughing.

“You lost a ring?” Commodore Britin asked.

Hera nodded. “Yes, I did- but it was nothing special. It’ll be replaced easily.”

“I see,” the Commodore said. “Well, I’ll keep an eye out for it and let you continue on your walk. It’s great to clear your head in the morning air- especially before a business meeting, hm?”

Kanan nodded at the Commodore.

“Of course. We’ll see you soon, then?”

The Commodore walked away, and once he was out of earshot, Ezra brought a hand up to his mouth to muffle his laughter.

“Wow,” he said. “Jalor and Yanna are real mushy.”

Hera just rolled her eyes at him and turned her attention to Kanan.

“I told you not to go out this morning! What were you thinking?”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Kanan said. “I just wanted to be more helpful.”

“You’re being plenty helpful already,” Hera snapped. Ezra winced a little bit- he felt like he shouldn’t be here for this. “When you do what you’re supposed to be doing. Ezra and Zeb already said they’d look for it, it wasn’t your problem. What would you have told the Commodore if I wasn’t here? You could’ve blown all of our covers! You could’ve gotten us all killed, Kanan, don’t you realize that? What’s wrong with you?”

There was a quiet, tense moment, and Ezra looked between the two of them.

“I’m sorry, Hera,” Kanan said.

Hera’s lips tightened, and Ezra could see a little bit of her own guilt in her eyes. “It’s- it’s fine. We shouldn’t be doing this here. Let’s all just go back to the cottage, and get ready for that business meeting.”

Hera grabbed Kanan’s hand and started pulling him back to the cottage, Ezra following behind at a cautious distance.

* * *

Sabine sat behind Kanan and Hera in the business meeting, tapping away to make notes on her datapad of what the Commodore was saying. She’d fitted a sound recording device into her datapad too, to keep record of the meeting, but she hadn’t been able to fit a cam to get the holograms he’d been showing. So instead, Sabine wrote down all the information in them, and tried to keep enough descriptive notes of some of the images so that she could draw them later. Anything to help out.

Sabine and Zeb had woken up that morning and fixed themselves a small breakfast, and were sitting in the common room of the cottage and talking when Hera, Kanan and Ezra came back from a walk. Hera seemed angry and Kanan guilty, while Ezra was even more awkward than normal. She wasn’t sure what happened, but she could feel some tension between Kanan and Hera still in this meeting, even if the Commodore seemed none the wiser.

Sabine wrote down more about the Commodore’s prices, and the discounts he offered, resisting the urge to yawn. Zeb, Ezra and Chopper got to look for his secret lab, so she was sure they were having more fun than she was.

* * *

“Sure it’s not under a rock?” Zeb asked.

“It’s not under a rock. I just know it,” Ezra said.

Zeb rolled his eyes. He loved Ezra, and was glad the kid was getting more confident, but he was sure that Kanan’s encouragement during training was getting to his head.

“Right,” he said. “Of course you do.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a silent bodyguard?”

Zeb scowled, following him through the gardens. He looked down at Chopper.

“Can you believe him?”

Chopper rumbled in agreement as they followed Ezra through the grass, being careful not to trample over any flowers as to leave it untouched as possible. They passed by another one of the small, rock-surrounded ponds, but a few paces after going by it, Zeb stopped. He sniffed the air, and then turned around to go back to the pond, looking into it.

“What now, Zeb?” Ezra asked.

“This one doesn’t have fish in it,” Zeb said.

“So?”

“Every other one has fish in it,” Zeb said. “Why doesn’t this one?”  
Ezra approached next to him, leaning over the pond to get a better look. Zeb was half-tempted to push him in, but was sure he’d get in trouble with Hera for it. And she was already not in a good mood today, thanks to whatever Kanan did.

Ezra tilted his head and pointed into the pond.

“What’s that?”

Zeb looked closer- something metal gleaned in the bottom of the water, and Zeb couldn’t help but grin.

“I don’t know. Chop, can you do a scan?”

Chopper reluctantly obliged, coming next to them and extending a scanner from his body, casting a blue hologram over the water. Chopper warbled- it was a lever.

“Let’s pull it, then.” Zeb said, going around to the other side of the pool. He reached his arm down to reach the lever, wincing as the cold water soaked into his fur. He clambered around with his hand for the lever, before gripping the smooth metal in his hand pulling on it. One of the rocks nearby flipped open like a trap door, and Zeb pulled his arm out of the water, shaking it off. He smirked at Ezra.

“So it _was_ under a rock.”

“Shut up.”

Zeb laughed as he climbed down the ladder, then reached his arms up once he hit the floor to motion for Chopper to come down. Chopper dropped unceremoniously down the chute, and Zeb strained as he caught him, before sitting him down.

“Maybe hit the gym, droid.”

Chopper gave him a small shock in the leg, and Zeb cursed as he stepped back. Ezra slid down the ladder, joining them.

“We have to be quiet,” Ezra whispered. “We don’t know if they’ve got anyone working down here right now.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zeb whispered. “We’re not here to explore. I say Chopper plugs in, downloads everything they have, and we get out.”

Ezra nodded. “Sounds fine to me,” he said. He looked around for a socket, until he found one and pointed to it. “Chop, there. Get to work.”

Chopper rolled up to the wall, and plugged in to it to get to work on downloading the lab’s research data. Zeb and Ezra waited with him, being careful to look around and make sure no one caught them in the lab.

“How much data is there?” Zeb asked impatiently.

“Seems like a lot,” Ezra said. “Chop, can you go any faster?”

Chopper extended one of the mechanical arms from his head to dismissively wave at them, and Zeb rolled his eyes.

“Alright, take your time. But we can’t be down here much longer, unless they’re taking the day off.”

“I’m sure he’s almost done.”

* * *

In the business meeting, Hera and Kanan were pretending to consider the Commodore’s prices. They didn’t actually have money, but the plan was that they’d tell the Commodore they’d go home and send him a transmission once they decided between two of his ships. Kanan was sure that Sabine had already got all of the data she needed about his Imperial dealings- the Commodore was very boastful about that, and was happy to ramble on about it. 

Hera was talking to the Commodore about the fuel efficiency of each ship that they were pretending to consider, and Kanan stayed quiet to let her continue the conversation to keep him occupied- she knew much more about that than he did.

“Master Lagan,” Sabine said quietly from behind him while Hera spoke. “Can I show you something?”

Kanan nodded, and leaned back so she could show him something on her datapad. It was a transmission from Ezra, saying that they’d found the lab and downloaded its research data, and they were now going back to the cottage to begin packing their things. Kanan smiled and nodded at her, mouthing a quiet “thank you” before sitting upright again to face the commodore. He nudged Hera’s foot with his to get her attention , tapping his fingers on his leg to signal that they could wrap the meeting up soon. Hera’s eyes diverted only briefly from the Commodore while he spoke to see his signal, and she gave Kanan a subtle nod.

Once they’d all returned to the cottage and everyone had finished packing their things, and their slated departure from the compound was still an hour away. Zeb, Sabine, Ezra and Chopper all took to lounging in the common room, relaxing to celebrate such a successful mission. Hera, having just finished closing up her bag, went to join them, but Kanan stopped her by gently taking her arm. He still felt nervous and guilty about what had happened that morning.

“Hey,” he said. “Want to go on a walk? Just the two of us?”

“Oh,” Hera said stiffly. “Sure, that sounds nice.”

Kanan smiled, and went out the door with her. They walked in silence down the stone path for a little while, enjoying the sights of the beautiful gardens in the compound.

“I’m really sorry again about going out this morning,” Kanan said quietly once he was ready to break the silence. “I should have listened to you. I was hoping that I could just see if there were any traps in the lab to warn Zeb and Ezra about so they’d be safe, but I put us all in danger.”

Kanan didn’t have to say that it turned out, according to Zeb and Ezra, that there weren’t any traps anyway. They both knew that already, and didn’t need to add further insult to injury.

Hera nodded, giving him a small smile. “Thank you, love,” she said, and Kanan was relieved to hear her call him the pet name. “I’m sorry I was so harsh with you. I still don’t agree with what you did, but you did it because you care about our family, and I could’ve been kinder.”

Kanan shrugged. “You were worried because I almost screwed us over. I can’t blame you for that.”

“Maybe. But… I still regret it. I shouldn’t talk to you like that, and it won’t happen again, I promise.”

She reached over and took hold of his hand, much more lovingly than when she’d grabbed it that morning, and gave it a squeeze. Kanan squeezed back, his face feeling warm. They walked a little more, still holding hands, and Kanan chuckled.

“I, uh… I kind of liked being your husband for this mission.”

Hera laughed too.

“Being your wife wasn’t so bad, either.”

Kanan looked at her to find her looking at him too, and their eyes met. 

_Someday_ , Kanan thought to himself.

And he was pretty sure Hera was thinking the same thing.

Before either of them could say anything else, they heard some voices. Hera frowned at him, and they both turned in the direction of the voices, listening.

“Sir,” a droid’s modulated voice said. “We’ve found evidence that there was an unauthorized entrance into the lab.”

Hera and Kanan both froze, and shared an alarmed look.

“Unauthorized entrance?” Commodore Britin said.

“Yes. It appears that the trespassers downloaded all of the research data into a C1-model astromech droid.”

“Karabast,” Kanan and Hera both said at the same time. They didn’t have to tell each other to run for the cottage.

* * *

Ezra was laughing on the couch with Zeb and Sabine when Kanan and Hera burst into the door.

“Kids,” Kanan said, slightly out of breath. “We gotta go. Grab everything and get to the ship.”

“Prep the ship, Chop,” Hera said, picking up anything of theirs she saw. “Now!”

They all stood up, picking up their bags with zero hesitation. Hera grabbed her things and followed Chopper out to their stolen shuttle. 

“What happened?” Ezra asked.

“They found out about your little break-in,” Kanan said. “So let’s just leave before they catch up to us.”

“How’d they find out?” Zeb asked, shouldering his bags.

“Doesn’t matter, not blaming anyone,” Kanan said, “We just need to hurry.”

Sabine was already out the door, and Zeb followed her quickly. Ezra picked up the last of his things, and turned around with Kanan to look around the room, searching for anything they might have left.

“Anything in the other rooms?” Kanan asked.

“Nah,” Ezra said. “We cleared those out already. Let’s go.”

He rushed with Kanan to the ship, speedwalking on their way their with the bags over their shoulders and in their arms.

“So, uh… are you and Hera good?”

He’d been a little worried since witnessing their fight that morning. Kanan and Hera got into disagreements, even arguments- but Ezra had never seen them like that before.

Kanan smiled. “Yeah, we’re alright. We were both just stressed about the mission, but we talked it out- everything’s fine.”

Ezra smiled too. “That’s good.”

“Hurry up!” Sabine called ahead from the shuttle.

“Hey, you!” Commodore Britin called from behind them.

Kanan and Ezra both made a break for the ship, bags and all.

* * *

Zeb slammed the button and the ramp closed once Kanan and Ezra were in the ship, and Hera was taking off before it even closed all the way.

“We should be in the clear,” Hera said once they were fairly high up. “It’s like he has a fleet of TIEs or any-”

The ship rocked as it endured a big blast on the right wing, throwing Zeb into the wall, and Sabine against Zeb. He groaned, before helping Sabine upright again and making sure she was fine.

“Cannons,” Hera finished regretfully, her voice strained.

Zeb tapped the ceiling to lower the rearview binoculars, looking back to see that tall cannon towers were emerging from the wall of the compound.

“Looks like he’s got sev- no, eight cannons.”

“Eight cannons?” Hera asked incredulously. “Someone thinks he’s important.”

“Yeah, not like anyone would be sending spies to him or anything,” Sabine said.

Hera ignored her comment.

“Taking evasive action,” Hera said. “Everyone sit tight until I break atmosphere.”

They all scrambled to take a seat, strapping themselves in. Zeb heard the familiar “clang” of Chopper magnet-locking himself onto the floor next to Hera. Hera spun the ship, taking them all upside down. Zeb closed his eyes- he wasn’t always a fan of Hera’s fancy flying, as grateful as he was for it keeping them alive. Zeb’s ears popped as they climbed in altitude.

“Almost there,” Hera called back. “Chopper, you have a jump routed for us?”

Chopper warbled proudly.

“Perfect. I think we’re out of range of the cannons now,” Hera said, righting the ship. Zeb opened his eyes again, and looked out of the viewport to see the blue atmospheric tint over the vast expanse of space fading fast, until they were totally out of the atmosphere.

“The second we’re out of the gravitational pull, make that jump, Chop,” Hera said. She sped up the ship, and it wasn’t much longer until they were ready, and the ship lurched as the stars blurred into lines past them, and they were thrown into the blue tunnel of hyperspace. Hera let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in the pilot’s seat, turning around to face all of them. Zeb smiled at her, then looked at the crew himself- still dressed formally, but a little more disheveled. Zeb couldn’t wait for them all to get home and change into their more comfortable, normal clothes.

“I’m proud of you all,” Hera said, and Zeb returned his attention to her. “This mission was different from what we’re used to, but we did it anyway. Thank you, all of you.”

Zeb beamed with pride- there was nothing quite like getting to work with his family, and being successful was just an extra cherry on top with that.


End file.
